I would suggest figuring out the real cost/return of switching your “investment strategies” at this point. Would it REALLY be worth it (i.e. how much net % or $ would you really gain)? If yes, then go to it. If no, then just sit tight and wait for the US$ to plummet and the mighty Loonie to soar!

A strong USD has it’s advantages and drawbacks… Since the buying power of the CAD has decreased, investing in the states is less attractive (say, getting into some good real estate deals). Of course, this is just in general, but I would have to see real numbers to be certain. When the dollar was more at par, it was a great time to take advantage of those discount buys. Mind you, the forex market can assist in hedging the differences if it’s utilized correctly and safely (for investors who are more inclined towards risk).

The advantage is that any USD income that comes in is now subject to a nice bonus due to the exchange rate.

I am actually not a forex trader ( although I used to be an active short term trader on forex and fx futures markets a while ago) and the strategy I was refering to ( currency hedging) won’t result in you losing your shirt. On the contrary hedging of currencies or commodities is often used by companies in order to minimize the risk fluctuations in currencies and commodities on their bottom line.

If you have US$100 and the US$ is trading at par with CDN$ then you could simply put some margin in an fx account and lock in that rate. No matter what happens in the future your rate is locked in and the worst thing that could happen is that you end up settling the position earlier than expected.

Mmmmm. 25% pay increase.

The Canadian dollar will go back up after the world economy approves and oil goes back up. I think it’ll go up to about $100/barrel and Canadian dollar will balance out within 5-10 cents of the US dollar.

But today I chased a cheque for $150USD and ended up getting $200. Our dollar may be low right no, but it feels good when you get more than what is printed on the cheque!

My name is Marie-Josée. I am a technical writer for the Montréal Exchange. MX is the Canadian options market (we also trade futures). This is my first visit on this blog and I find your comments on how a lower U.S. dollar affect you very interesting.

I would like to suggest that you could trade options on the U.S. dollar to hedge your currency exposure. If you want to speculate, you could also trade call options to profit from a rise in the U.S. dollar.

If you want to know more, we have a guide called Currency Options Reference Manual. It is available at http://www.m-x.ca/produits_options_devises_en.php.

I’m not banking that it will keep up but it’s been a nice little bonus and good timing since we recently purchased a cottage.

The US dollar has helped my long term investments, and holds very well in this down turn. The 25% appreciation has offset the market downturn of 30%.

It will dampen my spending in the US, but it’s always been purely financial decision to buy in Canada vs US.

I was refering to Canadian exporters and their canadian dollar revenues. Since commodities like oil are denominated in US currency. Then the 50% drop in US dollar terms in oil since july is offsett by the US dollars 20% gain against the canadian dollar.

I do not think however that the US is bankrupt. Furthermore the current crisis shows you that the US dollar is still the safe haven currency during a market crisis..